3.28.2010

I'm in love my juicer again and having a ball. What's propelling me ,among good health, is an opportunity I'm exploring involving a portable juice stand this summer on Saturdays at a Farmers Market in the area. It's not set yet, but I'm thinking about it hard. When my Mother had cancer she loved a nice simple glass of carrot juice. For some reason I shied away from it, preferring to use my juicer for apples, and citrus. I've been missing out! One of my favorite go to morning drinks to sip on at work is a chilled carrot and apple juice. It's so delicious and surprisingly filling.

Note: Make sure to first mix ingredients in deep container since there will be some fizzing from the baking soda & vinegar.

Carrot Apple Juice

4 small- medium organic apples

4 organic Carrots

I don't bother peeling the apples but I do skin the carrots.

Cut into manageable pieces and extract in juicer.

Carrot and Sweet Lime Juice

I found these sweet limes in the Latin Market. Popular in India, they are more sweeter, and less acidic than limes. They are known to help upset stomachs and used as throat remedies.The taste reminds me of a mild sweeter grapefruit .

3 sweet limes either pressed in citrus juicer or peeled and cut into wedges to extract juice

4 small to medium carrots.

As you know if you read this blog Certain Someone is a Carnivore. I find myself using the times he's away on business or working late , to indulge in lighter , meat free recipes. He does loves curry as a spice however. Maybe acquired from eating the fabulous curry wursts in Germany growing up. So when he flew in late on Meatless Monday night and wanted to know what the good scent was that filled the hallways of the condo. I said it was my dinner and he probably would not like it ,as it had no meat. I save some leftover and served it to him later on in the week as a side dish. He totally liked it. You can eat this a side or just an main course. I used frozen Roti, an Indian pan fried flat bread which is unleavened as compared to Naan. Either or can be used, but this is a good option for those searching for unleavened foods. I found in the Asian stores. But check your local grocer ad these items are showing up in more mainstream markets.

* Note: You can add the shredded carrot puree from juicer to this dish as well.

Curried Chickpeas and Onions with Roti

serves 2

1 can or jar of Chickpeas/ Garbanzo beans rinsed.

( I will always advocate for fresh/dried but these will work in a pinch for time)

1/2 yellow onion thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic minced

2 tbs vegtable oil

1 tbs curry powder

1 tsp Fenugreek powder ( optional)

1 tsp Tumeric

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp white pepper

1/8 tsp sugar

salt to taste

1/2 cup water

Rinse and drain chickpeas. Set aside.

In a skillet heat vegetable oil and add curry, fenugreek ,chili,turmeric, white peeper . Stir around until fragrant and add onions. Reduce heat to medium and saute until softened, about a few minutes. Add chickpeas, and saute until coated in spice and oil mixture. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes .Taste and adjust with sugar and salt.

Prepare Roti according to package instructions and serve with curried Chickpeas. I use two Roti's per person.

3.27.2010

I love tapioca. But it has reputation of one either loving or hating it. In the right base Tapioca can soar. Think of fun fruity and ever so popular bubble teas. And tapioca is apt to find its way on the higher ends menus these days in sweet and savory applications. So this clear translucent starch doesn't have to limited to stodgy plain, but good desserts any longer. Rather than make a traditional pudding recipe with whipped egg whites, I decided to use whipped cream as I was mimicking one of my favorite dessert type cocktails, the Brandy Alexander. Tapioca cooked with egg yolks, vanilla paste,sugar,cocoa, and brandy.Then allowed to chill and folded into more brandy spiked whipped cream. All topped with fresh grated nutmeg, and served in coco rimmed containers. Rich, light, decadent, and just plain good.

Brandy Alexander Tapioca Pudding

Serves 4

2 hours plus chilling time

1/3 cup small pearl tapioca

2 3/4 cups milk (set aside 3/4 for soaking)

2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup Brandy plus 1 tsp for whipped cream

1cup heavy whipping cream

1 tbsp sugar

cocoa powder and brandy for rims

fresh nutmeg for grated garnish

Soak the small pearl tapioca in 3/4 cups milk in a heavy bottomed sauce pan.

Allow to soak for 1 hour.

While waiting you can whip 1 cup whipped cream with 1 tbsp of sugar in your stand mixer. Add 1 tsp of brandy and cover to chill.

On a low to medium heat slowly cook tapioca and milk until it starts to bubble/boil.Check and stir periodically.While waiting for this which can take 10-15 minutes, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cocoa in bowl.Once Tapioca starts to cook/boil on low heat add egg yolk mixture and whisk to incorporate. Slowly simmer on low medium heat stirring constantly until the tapioca pearls starts to expand and become translucent. This will take another 20 minutes or so. If its cooking to fast adjust heat, so tapioca can cook completely. At final stage add vanilla and 1/4 cup of brandy. Whisk in and set aside. Allow to cool, covered before chilling for at least 4 hours.

After completely chilled, fold in whipped cream.

Take serving glasses and dip rim a saucer of brandy. Then dip in a saucer of cocoa powder.

3.23.2010

I'm in a phase right now. Fellow blogger Cheryl face booked some cool pictures takes with her I Phone and Hipstamtic and I have been obsessed ever since. I even set up a Tumblr acct to showcase my cool artsy pictures and other stuff that I cant put here. It's that bad. So I figured I could get some stylized shots of these Red Chili Peppers to make the feeling of heat even more visible with this analog style of photography via digital means. I love the vintage feel . So you may see this from time to time here. It's a phase I need to work through.

A few weeks back I received my Culinaria Southeast Asia book and was captivated by the Sambal''s. Sambal's are essentially chili based dipping sauce that precedes what we in the Western world think as as ketchup. Sambal Oelek being the most popular one to come to mind. Some Sambals have shrimp paste, lime, soy, sugar, ginger, garlic, tamarind, peanuts,etc. All sorts of variations exist.

I made my own variation based on the Sambal Cuka ( Vinegar and Chili Dip) in Culinaria. I ended up altering things and adding more ingredients. My batch was also larger because I had about 50 or so Chili peppers. I will give you roughly what I did. Taste and alter according to your tastes.This makes a large batch, that's ideal to divide up and bottle to share. Fresh Sauce keeps for 1 week in the refrigerator.

Fresh Homemade Hot Sauce/ Sambal

(You can scale this down as this makes over 1/4 liter, a rather large batch. You can use minimally 10 red chilies and amounts of 2 tbsp of vinegar, 2 garlic cloves, 1/2 inch ginger, 1 tbsp soy, 1 tbsp sugar)

3.21.2010

The other day I decided to splurge on duck eggs on a shopping expedition to Chinatown. At $8.50 a dozen they were extravagant, but I rationalized the purchase by using them in a post, making a dessert with them, and an upcoming article I'm doing later on for Easter. I have been intrigued by duck eggs for a while as they have larger yolks and thicker shells. Duck eggs have many applications and are wonderful in rich egg based pastries. You can see in the first photo the side by side comparison between the duck egg and regular hens egg.

Being Sunday, and the weekend, Certain Someone wanted pasta. I didn't have any dried pasta in the pantry so I decided to make some with the duck eggs. He fussed as he thought it would be a big ordeal, as my previous pasta making attempts. I knew he was thinking of the tape I made for the Master Chef Auditions, in the messy condo undergoing repainting. and the long wait for dinner that night. I have to say that was my worst pasta even , as I added to much liquid and was more worried about the camera, than product. It stuck all over my new Kitchen Aid pasta rollers that Certain Someone gave me for Christmas. But I dusted myslef off, and the rollers, and tried again. Tell me a cook or chef that doesn't have a failure now ad then. That's how we achieve perfection. Substituting duck eggs for regular, I achieved a dense, rich, golden dough.

.

After letting it rest, dividing it in four, it was the easily, most pliable dough to roll. I managed to whip out some rich fettuccine noodles in a fraction of the time of my previous attempts with an easy clean up.

With Spring in the air I wanted to make Pasta Primavera, but he wanted MEAT! So I threw in some meat, and tons vegetables like zucchini, various hued peppers, spices, onion and garlic in a red sauce. Certain Someone fussed about all the vegetables, but admitted it was my best handmade pasta ever. If you can find them, I highly recommend you substitute the duck eggs for hens next time you make and egg based pasta.

Duck Egg Pasta

(adapted from Kitchen Aid's Egg Pasta Recipe)

4 Duck Eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons water

3 1/2 cups All purpose four or Italian 00 flour ( the best for pasta, breads, and pizza)

3.17.2010

When I was child, even before magazine editors became household words, I always loved and collected magazines. Stacks and stacks of sophisticated magazines on Food and Fashion from all over the world. Other kids had games, and I had my Vogue , Gourmet , Vanity Fair, etc. I knew somehow, someway, I was going to get in those magazines some day or become a part of it. And surprisingly I did. I can count three times, in my socialite days here in Chicago, my photo made some publications .Not a big deal, but fun and exciting. Then I started writing my blog and loved seeing the process unfold. I even got asked to write some more here and there. All this was great but where was it leading to personally and financially? In the blogging world I see a lot of great people get the deals to go on TV and write books. I’m still waiting but I try and I stay in the game because I do love it, whether it amounts to much or not. It’s about personal satisfaction at this stage in life. And sometimes in order to be satisfied you gotta take the bull by its horns. And that’s what I’m doing, by making my own magazine.
But first, here is a little back story. A few months ago, a friend who I worked with asked me to help out her friend with a last minute interview on her radio show. Ogi, the shows hostess , was a entrepreneurial woman who had her own boutique and was passionate about what she did. As what happens with bumps in the road of life, she had to reconvene and figure out another avenue to go on. She decided to launch her magazine. You may have seen me mention it. It’s called Hush, and I contribute food content. Just witnessing the pride and joy in creating this magazine got me thinking and inspired. It seems we both inspired each other. Perhaps that why we met? Why can’t I have a magazine too, based solely on things that matter to me. I have only seen maybe one or two food bloggers do this, and mine still is unique in concept. I also wanted hard copy, as opposed to electronic copy. I suppose that’s weird in this age, but one can’t deny the appeal and intimacy of paper in hand. I wanted my magazine to focus on mainly food ,travel. or cultures. And so Coco was born.Coco was created through the brillance of the concept of MagCloud, a division of HP that allows people like you and me to publish their own magazines f or a fraction of the cost of traditional printing porcesses.. I hope you like my first issue, Discovery through the Palate. A Travel and Food Diary. It was a lot of work and fun piecing this together and I got great feedback from friends who know all about media. Call it a vanity project, but I want to give you the reader an up close, intimate view of some of my world and travels.It’s almost like a diary or scrapbook, full of great visuals, recollections, recipes, and places I would recommend when travelling. Coco is a little art and little reference. I plan to produce 4 themed issues and hope you consider placing an order. Each edition is meant to be timeless in that it’s not limited by seasons. Coco is perfect for those that are planning a trip or just aren’t able to travel, but are interested in the world at large and want to pick up an interesting tidbit here and there. It’s more than a magazine. Click here to order in the US, Canada, and The UK.

3.16.2010

I’m going to go out on a limb here and may rub some people the wrong way. The cliché is true; the way to a man’s heart is through the stomach. I see a lot of women running out here in the world (and I was one of them) wondering why they can’t find the one. We as women get so wrapped up in the superficial things like appearance; we forget this basic rule of thumb. I see some really sharp beautiful women wonder what one woman has over her. It’s probably that she cooks well and most importantly is not afraid of giving of herself, it’s that simple.A lot of those women couldn't be bothered with such mundane tasks, as cooking. I know some of people may feel I’m a doormat because it seems I’m always cooking and catering to Certain Someone. Au contraire, I’m hardly a door mat, I speak my mind, I work, I look out for me, and I expect to get nurtured back and spoiled in the same way I nurture Certain Someone. And I do. The reason I do what I do is because that’s what cooking and food is, nurturing and love. I choose to do it, no one forces me, and I have never been more centered.
A few weeks ago there was a discussion I witnessed, between some people about mealtime and serving men. A lot of the women got all blistery about it and started in on a man can serve himself and can he cook the meal too for that matter.I love a man to cook for me but a few of us in the room were thinking What’s the big deal about serving /feeding your man, if you choose to?There is nothing wrong or backwards with that choice either. My mother did it, my grandmother did it (and they were both working educated strong Black women). It’s not about submission, which I think is the wrong message most people see. It’s about nurturing, again. In this stressful world, I don’t care if you’re a millionaire or working class, one wants to come home to an environment that loving and peaceful. We all deserve to be nurtured. In order to be loved and nurtured we must be willing to give it too.
Some people use sex as a weapon or lure, I use food. My first serious relationship was initiated through a package of homemade chocolate chip cookies by yours truly. It gets them most of the time. There have been some misses. I remember laying my sites on one prospect years ago, and setting out the finest china and linens at Auntie Mame's lake view condo. I made Veal Parmesan, a dessert of Grand Mariner marinated melon balls and ice cream. It was a big deal, to me anyway, after a bit of casual dating with said prospect. He came, he ate, he tickled the ivories (literally the Aunts baby grand not me) and he left, never really hearing from him again. I run that night through my head and feel I must have scared the crap out of him because the food was exceptional, or so I heard through various sources.Bottom line he wasn't worthy of that dinner from me, and he knew it. Certain Someone and I met over and bonded over our love of food and travel. I can say the first time I cooked for him, he was hooked. Certain Someone’s life is literally like the title of the film Up In the Air. After days working and with limited food options (some nice and not so nice, and many Business Class or First Class meals on airlines), he wants a home cooked meal. Just like Mama would make.
I’m not a relationship expert, I just observe. And from what I see, there are a lot of women out there trying not to be forced into submission or controlled, and they equate cooking as part of that. Yet they seek relationships. They consider themselves free and liberal. I feel there is nothing more liberating and satisfying than giving cooking a try (not everyone is going to excel at it, but it’s the effort that matters) and removing that negative block and stigma. You would be surprised at what comes flowing into your life from such a loving activity.

3.14.2010

A few weeks ago I mentioned I'm trying to get into the whole Meatless Monday Movement. I have committed to devoting a few posts per month towards this. For my this weeks post I want to revisit some published and not published ideas and recipes here on Coco Cooks.

Salad and Parmesan Crisps

. OK, not quite vegan, but its meatless and tasty. Try a quick and easy salad with crusty bread and Parmesan crisps. Take a parchment lined baking sheet and add shredded Parmesan Cheese. Bake at 375 for a few minutes until melted and slightly crispy. Don't burn. Remove and let cool.

Sweet or Savory Buckwheat Crepes

I love these and find you can make a big batch of them to freeze and use for either breakfast, lunch , or dinner. Fill with sauteed mushrooms and spinach with cream, or a fried egg. Be creative. Fruits , yogurt,and Nutella spreads, butter,sugar, and rum taste divine on them too. Added benefit is Buckwheat is good for you. Click here for the recipe.

Roasted sweet winter squash. Skin is edible. This comes in at about 82 calories a serving. I love munching on these wedges that are both filling and sweet.

Ingredients

1 1/4

lb Japanese Pumpkin

1/2

tsp cinnamon

1

tbsp Olive oil

1

tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1/8

tsp cayenne pepper

1

pinch of salt

1

pinch of black pepper

Directions

Cut and slice the Kabocha Squash into small wedges. Arrange on parchment a lined baking sheet. Toss the squash in all the remaining ingredients to be sure the pieces are covered in the oil. Roast at 450 for about 15 minutes or until caramelized and crispy.

3.06.2010

In literature , one always reads of elaborate tea scenes with Devonshire Cream. The authors always make it sound so appetizing. In the United States your don't see it so much except for small little jars in some groceries which I have seen both in and out of the refrigerator. That unrefrigerated ones always freaked me out , and thus I stayed away from it.

So the other day I was killing time before meeting Certain Someone for dinner. I stopped by Pastoral, an artisnal cheese shop off the Mag Mile and browsed through there selections. A magazine caught my eye called Culture. Imagine a whole magazine devoted to cheese. I purchased a copy and was tranfixed by both the articles and the advertisements. They actually had recipes to make your Feta and such. I found a cheesemaking supply company and ordered on their kits to make my own Camembert. Click to left on the sidebar to see what else they have to offer. Yes. thats coming down the line. Patience. I decided to look at the magazines web site to find other recipes, and I found a recipe that intriqued me . Home Made Clotted Cream. Its not as hard as you would think.

So what is Clotted Cream, some of you may ask? It's

divine.A thick almost butter like cream with little yellow clots from the crust formed while the cream rises to the top, while being processed over 12 hours. The recipe calls for a double boiler type set up as you heat the cream on a very low heat for 12 hours, cool, then allow to set overnight in the fridge while not upsetting the crust formation on top. I used the leftover cream that was left after the crust formed, to bake my scones that morning.So this a project that you need to stay home for and check on your stove top. The taste is almost like caramel. One slathers it on scones with jam or can use it in other desserts. The origins of the Dairy jewel is from South west England in both Devon and Cornwall. Of course the dairy there has a distinctive taste that makes it unique.

In the United States is hard to find unpasteurized milk or cream unless you have access to a trusted dairy farm. Living in the city , I don't. Some people say your cream cant be pasteurized to be true Cornish clotted Cream.. Mine was . The recipe I used stated as long it wasn't Homogenized or Ultra Homogenized. So consider this the American version of Clotted Cream.

3.04.2010

Those that know me know I love to try new things. I’m quite adventurous when it comes to food. A few incidents occurred this past week that propelled me to make this tasty vegetarian recipe. I had ordered three Culinaria books to round my collection, and the first one was on South East Asia. Reading the first section about Singapore and Malaysia, and the various ethnicities that make up that region got me hungry. Particularly the Chinese old fashioned coffee shops , a fading tradition, where they serve for breakfast a egg jam made of eggs, sugar, pandan, and condensed milk, and such things as this ‘carrot cake” which is a cake made up rice flour, and shredded Daikon Radish, eggs, and a thick sweet soy sauce called ketjap manis ( which is Indonesian in origin). Lo and behold the next day I received 3 perfect looking Daikon Radishes in my Organic Vegetable Box. I knew I had to make this recipe. The Chinese words for Daikon (chhài-thâu)and

Carrot (âng-chhài-thâu) are similar and this is why its called ‘Carrot Cake” or Chai tao kway. The dish varies over regions and can served white or dark with the dark so based ketjap manis. Some people even add dried shrimp to it. Be warned, this breakfast dish takes while. A cake is made by steaming shredded wok fried Daikon and rice flour for and hour and then letting it cool for a minimum if eight hours.

Then more slicing,dicing, and frying and there you have it. The pasty white cake getting soft and sticking to wok, didn’t look appealing at all at first. And the smell of Daikon sautéing reminded me of sauerkraut. But in that final stage of adding the eggs, garlic, Ketjap manis, Siracha, and scallions, my nose became alive and I could see this would be a good dish. That extra of cilantro and Sambal Olek just took it over the top. I could eat this for lunch or dinner. For a vegetarian dish, its very tasty and filling. You can find the recipe here from Epicurious. Note I couldn’t find Ketjap manis so I made my own using a combination of various ones on the internet. I used brown rather than white sugar, so the result is more subtle in sweetness). Some people add molasses or brown sugar as well.

Homemade Ketjap Manis (Indonesian Ketchup)

2 ½ cups Brown Sugar

½ cup water

2 ¾ cups Dark Soy Sauce

3 whole garlic cloves

3-4 Star Anise Pods

1 tsp ground ginger.

In a heavy bottom saucepan combine sugar and water and bring to boil until syrup starts to form and it starts to caramelize.Carefully reduce heat and add the soy sauce and other ingredients. Reduce heat carefully and simmer for 15 minutes until reduced and thickened. Let cool. Can be kept for a while in the refrigerator for a few months tightly covered.

One story traces the tiramisu as far back as the Renaissance claiming that it was first made in honour of the visit of Grand Duke Cosimo di Medici to Tuscany. Yet another one points to the tiramisu being an adaptation of the "Zuppa Inglese" referring to the sponge cake and cream layered English Trifle.

However, experts in this area generally agree that the tiramisu as we know it today, was born in the ‘70s.

Some believe that the Tiramisu was created in the the Le Beccherie (a restaurant in Treviso). Ohters suggest that Tiramisu was first made in 1971 by an Italian baker named Carminantonio Iannaccone in a small bakery in Treviso, Italy.
I’m a few days late with this post. Never have I really felt that February was the shortest day of the month than now. There never seems to be enough time. And what little free time there is, I don’t feel compelled to fill it up with another activity. Coco Cooks kitchen has been a little slow on the baking activity this month. My kitchen still is not right from Certain Someone repainting of the condo, and until I get my new shelves and get organized, it will be hard to focus.

I did the components on separate days. I found my cream while making Mascarpone did not reach 190 degrees, but it set nevertheless. I ran out of sugar and used confectioners in the whipped cream. To sweeten the coffee brew I took the remaining few tablespoons of sugar and added Kahlúa as it was sweet and coffee flavored. I used little mini loaf pans to make 2 full Tiramisu and 1 with the left over odds and ends. They froze beautifully and will be excellent to take out when and if we need a dessert in a jam. All in all it was very good and not too sweet. My only issue with the recipe was the Zabaglione. Maybe it was to wordy with all the components and I lost something. But my Zabaglione did not double in volume, nor did he recipe state it should. This is not a dessert I normally am a big fan of, but I would make this again. I decided to garnish my dessert with some beautiful fresh cherries that I saw in the store from Argentina. I know they aren’t local or seasonal, but I wanted them. I roasted them in Balsamic and Brown Sugar. A great a zingy addition to this dessert especially with the cocoa powder.

Thanks to Aparna and Deeba for a true challenge. Be sure to check out the other Daring Bakers. Cherries